Grip-tread for tires.



Ina/e $07 20232208505. a 6 J M I x I i H. D. WEED.

GRIP TREAD FOR TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1907.

953,673; P ented Mar. 29, 1910.

35 i tute a permanent partof. the grip'tread or nan aohmntdt mag oithetire and'connec'ted bycircu ar side; pieces or other fastening deviceswhereby ever; in

-' action, there is a overcoming excessive qUNITEDPSTAIES om Application'flled September a, 1907; sem1no.. aa1,'17a.

Be it that I, HARRY D. 'wm of Syracuse, in the county-of Ononda' in theState ofNew York, have invented *newand useful Improvements inGrip-Treads ior Tires, {of which the following, taken in -oon-'nectionwith the accom anying drawings, is a full, clear, and enactdescription.

Phisfinvention relates to certain improve- .nients" in treads for "tireshaving grip elements loosely applied .to the ripthe grippin elementsmaha-ve a free circmn erentia movement re atively "to the the while inaction. It isespecially useful, howconnection with what is commonlyknown "as the Weed chain tire ,grip now in "common use. Owing to the.fact that these gripping elements are loose, flexible, and free to oncearound the when in ways more or less centrifu gal throw imparted to thecross chains constitutin the gripping elements and in time the webetween the several links of'both of the cross chains and -.circularside pieces causes such chains tow-lengthen more or less so that thecentrifugal throw or radial swell off the cross chains causes them tostrike the mud guards, "the front portions of which are usuaily'incloseproximity to the periphery ofthe'tracti'on t eels; I 3

My. object, therefore, is 'to overcome this excessive centri fugal'throwmeans 'of an. automatic take *up device which may constimaile a(s1 i1sepafatlearticle of 'mamgfacftufie an'reai a ieto'a i trea '0" t c classmen zioiie d. In ot llin t ords I have sought'to provide a simple,ractical and etlici'ent meansfor' taking up he slack and ceittriiugalaction of the'grip tread withou addin' 'materiall to the welght orexpense of suc tread an to still permit the entire device, to have freecircumferential movement relatively to. the

I in the following description.

tire -1 to which the tire.

with interlocking members construction whereby reel, 2 and 3 are In thedIaWlngs-F1 grip tread thereon elevations of a tire an showiafirmodifiedforms-of take up devices. 1g. 4 isanclevationofthe detachedtake-updev1ce shown 1. Fig. '5 is an elevation of :a further modifiedtake-up -device. f In orderto demonstrate the practicability of myinvention I have shown in Fig. 1, a

is loosely applied a -gri "opposite circular sid cross' races orgripping eletread composed of pieces --'2- and ments having t eir endsattached to she circular side pieces and .their intermedlflli'e Portionsextending across the trend of The side .pieces 2-- preferably consist ofparallel chains flexible in all directions and of less length than theciromnference of the tire and are-usually provided at their ends of anydesired the grip tread may be applied to or removed 'Bfirom the tire andwhen thus a liedconstitute circular side pieces of less iumeter than andconcentric with'the eriphe of the tire.

tion that th'egrip tread if made up ofjoi1rted parts or links m .theform of a *chainis flexible in all directions and is free to shiftSpecification of Pat ent. Mar, v

or-movecircumferentially relativel to the to obviate :anyliability of te cross pieces embedding themselves and thereby unduly wearing-anyparticular portionof means toremove'nails, 'glass, stones and othersharp instruments which may become embedded in the tire. The specificfeature of my iinventiom however; lies .in ithe means for automaticallytaking up the slack and preventing undue centrifuad throw of the crosspiecesand-as shown in consists of a series of in radially extendingsprings -4' :having their outer ends provided with hooks which ig.1,-thi's rdevice are enfaged at regular intervals with :one of the si epieces --2-'while their inner :ends are connected to a suitableanchorage 5-.,' consisting in this instance, or chainwhich when inoperative position assumesan angular form and is held in place.

solely by the spring. connections 4- with the circular side pieces 2. e

The springs -4 are preferably of uni- .form length and tension so thatwhen tensioned and connected to the side pieces -2 at equidistant pointsthe anchorage 5 said tire and at the same time affording this instancefo r,

of a flexible ring will be held centrally with reference to the wheeland at thesame time the sprin 4:-

assume a radial position and, there ore, the

tension upon the grip tread is radial toward the center of the wheel.This same effect may be produced by many other forms of take u devices,as for instance, in Fig. 2 I haves own one of the circular side pieces-2 as connected by radial chains -t or rods -7 to a central anchoragecomposed of springs 8- which are tensioned to drawthe chains 6- andportions of the circular side pieces 2- to which they are attachedradially toward the axis of the wheel thereby automatically taking upthe slack in the grip tread and preventing excessive centrifugal throwof 7 any portion thereof.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a further modified take up device-consisting of aseries of spring tensioned flexible elements connected across the cordsof equal arcs of one of the circular side pieces -2 and in this instanceforming an isosceles triangle,each side of which consists of a flexiblecable consisting in this instance of a spring 10 and chain --11. and anintermediate weighted member.12, the ends of each cord member beingattached at uniform distances apart to one of the circular side pieces.In this instance the springs -10 serve to maintain a normal tension uponthe circular side pieces to take up part of the slack while the wheel isat rest or under slow motion which effect is increased under the speedof revolution of the wheel by the centrifugal action of the weights 12which are thrown outwardly from a direct line between the points ofattachment of'each side piece or cord thereby exerting additionaltension upon the springs .10 and introducing a resistance to thecentrifugal throw ofthe cross pieces 3- of the grip tread proportionateto the speed of the wheel. In each of these take up devices shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 3 the entire grip tread including its 7 take up device isloosely applied to the wheel and it is, therefore, free to shift orcreep circumferentially relatively to the tire-but the broad idea of myinvention is to provide any yieldingmeans which will automatically takeup the slack and prevent excessive centrifugal throw of the grippingelements so that they will not strike or interfere with other parts ofthe machine, when the latter is driven at a high speed. 7

It is clear that many other devices may be employed to carry out themain object of my invention and I do not wish to limit myself to eitherof the structures shown and described.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a further modified form of take u device asapplied to one of the circular si e pieces, the latter having twocomparatively long links .-20 slidable one upon the other and surroundedby a coil spring -21 having its ends attached to the circular sidepieces at opposite ends of the long links --2(), the spring 21- beingtensioned to contract the circular side pieces which produces a slidingaction of the long links 20- one upon the other and thereby reducing thediameter of said-circib lar side pieces to draw the cross pieces intoengagement with the periphery of the tire.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a chain tire rip embodying cross chains, and sidemem ers to which the ends of the cross chains are connected, a take-upattachment surrounding the hub and embod ing both flexibleyielding partsand fiexib unyieldin parts connected together, and some of sai partsbeing connected with one of the side members of the chain grip.

2. In combination with a'tire grip having side members, a take-upattachment surrounding the hub and free from connection therewith, saidtake-up embodying a plurality of individual chain and spring membersconnected together with some of said members connected to one of theside members of the tire grip.

3. An anti-skidding attachment for wheels, comprising a plurality ofcross chains, flexible attaching elements on o posite sides of the wheelto which the en 5 of said cross chains are connected, and a flexibletensioning member extending across a chord of said attaching elementswlth its ends attached to one of .said elements, said flexibletensioning member being free from connection with the wheel to which theattachment is applied.

4. In combination with atire grip having side members, a take-upattachment surrounding the hub and free from connection therewith, saidtake-u embodying a member, and a plurality o .sprin members connected atone end at interva s to said member and at their other ends at spacedintervals to one of said side members.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of August1907.

HARRY D. WEED.

Witnesses:

H. E. Omen, MILDRED M. Now.

